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A nasty combination of snow, sleet, and rain during the night forced schools and organizations all over the metro area to push back start times this morning. How are these delays affecting education, justice, and driver license wait times in the area? What learning is lost when school is delayed two hours? The List investigates.

1. Academics don’t suffer at Apple Tree Preschool Academy

   The preschool and daycare in Manassas is handling a two-hour late start well, says manager Julie Para. Preschool has a later start time than daycare normally, she explains, leaving the academic schedule intact.

2. Delay will not interfere with the right to a fair and speedy trial

   D.C. Courthouse spokesperson Leah Gurowitz assures The List that an official two-hour delay will not infringe on constitutional rights. “Everybody goes to trial,” she says. “It just sort of, you know, pushes us back a bit.” Gurowitz says the delay was really only an hour and a half, and the courtrooms don’t get going until 9:15 or 9:30 anyway.

3. Phone lines tied up at Virginia DMV

   Repeated calls to the Virginia DMV’s Arlington location yielded only busy signals, leading The List to speculate about the flood of drivers that must be patronizing the DMV after a two-hour delay.

4. Loudoun County government thrives despite unscheduled leave option

   Excepting essential personnel like fire and rescue, county employees were given the option of taking the day off without scheduling it in advance. “Normally they’d have to have that pre-arranged with their supervisor,” explains public information officer Lorie Flading. Flading says the move has had no effect on county operations and that she’s not even sure how many people took advantage of it. “I can tell you there were a lot of parked cars in the parking lot,” she says.

5. Impact of church delays on U. Maryland students unknown

   University United Methodist Church in College Park experienced a three hour and 30 minute delay this morning and, apparently, a deluge of phone calls—the church office voicemail box is full and no longer accepting messages.